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Carney announces $1.2 billion to protect Canada's oceans
Prime Minister Mark Carney announced on Sept. 29 in North Vancouver that Ottawa will invest $1.2 billion to protect the country's oceans and marine ecosystems, as West Coast port expansions and a pipeline decision raise shipping traffic.
Why it matters
The largest ocean-protection investment in Canadian history lands as Ottawa prepares to expand the Port of Vancouver and the Roberts Bank terminal, and decides this week whether to designate an Alberta-to-B.C. pipeline a project of national interest. With more tankers and cargo ships on the water, Carney is pairing economic expansion with a "protect while we build" package — more Coast Guard surveillance, spill response and enforcement — ahead of Canada hosting the Our Ocean Conference in Halifax next May.
Full report
According to the Prime Minister's Office release of Sept. 29, the $1.2 billion breaks into three parts. First, more than $740 million over four years to strengthen ocean conservation: renewing the Oceans Protection Plan, expanding the Canadian Coast Guard's marine-traffic monitoring, upgrading search and rescue stations, extending VHF radio and radar coverage, building a national high-resolution nearshore forecasting system, and equipping conservation officers with body-worn cameras, drones and other modern tools.
Second, a further $136 million over four years for marine life: a national marine mammal oil spill response plan, monitoring and mitigating underwater noise across the Pacific, Arctic and East Coast, and a new Arctic noise monitoring program. Third, $186 million for the Northern Shelf Bioregion Reconciliation Framework Agreement to advance collaborative governance and conservation in the Great Bear Sea region, plus Indigenous-led restoration of the Lower Fraser River Estuary.
The release notes Canada's "A Force of Nature" strategy aims to conserve 30% of lands and oceans by 2030, and that Ottawa has so far invested $3.2 billion in ocean protection systems, research and personnel. At last week's 81st UN General Assembly, Carney also announced $82 million over five years for ocean observation and ratified the High Seas Treaty.
"The further we reach in our ambitions, the greater our responsibility to protect what we have inherited," Carney said. "We can and will do both."
Source: Prime Minister of Canada news release (pm.gc.ca).
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